Jonathan Kuminga In No Rush To Resolve Things After Golden State Warriors’ Newest Offer Declined

Jonathan Kuminga In No Rush To Resolve Things After Golden State Warriors’ Newest Offer Declined

We got an old-fashioned staring contest between the Golden State Warriors and Jonathan Kaminga’s camp. Seems like both parties want a divorce, but like in real life, each wants the house and neither side is budging. We got Hudson Clouty on today’s show. You are Locked on Warriors, your daily Golden State Warriors podcast. What are they going to say now? Part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. [Applause] Yo, what is the good word everyone? Welcome to the Lockdown Warriors, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now is a great time for new customers cuz you can get 150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. You can check out this show on YouTube and wherever you get your audio podcast. If you’re hanging out with us right now, hit that like, hit that subscribe, support the show any way you can. It’s free. We very much appreciate it. My name is Charlie Walter, host of this show, talking Golden State Warriors. Covered the team for CBS on TV, covered the team on the radio for 957 the game. That’s the flagship, the Golden State Warriors. Joining me today, uh, covers the team, not the team, covers the league as a whole. talks NBA, big basketball guy, friend of the program, Hudson Clouty. You may know him as Houdini. How we doing, man? It’s been uh a long time since we’ve had you on the program, maybe even before the playoffs. I think so. I think it Yeah, it’s been quite a while. Um I’m sure the off seasonason’s been real fun for the show. I haven’t really tuned in. I know there’s been a lot of movement, of course, with the Golden State Warriors specifically. So, yeah, I’m ready to get into it. Yeah, we got a JK staring contest to talk about. This is updated news to get into. We have the botched business of this whole thing. The Golden State Warriors have plenty of blame to be placed on them. This is not just point your finger at Jonathan Kaminga. It goes both ways. And then we’re going to talk fun things. Western Conference sleepers teams that could be fun. We may even get into the East. The world is our oyster. Hudson, let’s talk uh a little JK to start things off. Are you ready to dive into some Second Apron and apron talk and all the financials that make this thing so fun? I mean, I was listening up to my guy Bobby Marks right before I hopped on just to make sure I had my my tees crossed and my eyes dotted. But yeah, let’s I mean, you need to be like an astrophysicist to really know the ins and outs of this damn thing. But yeah, let’s let’s give it a shot. The reason I got into sports is because I couldn’t remember anything else in school, you know? I I couldn’t do anything. I had to have flashcards for anything and everything. and sports was just something that came natural and I feel like with this damn Second Apron stuff, I need the open book test at all times. It’s just uh it is a little confusing. But basically, Jonathan Kaminga to to to put this out there for you know my dummies book, Jonathan Kaminga for Dummies, he wants a fit. He wants dollars, but the Warriors have just about all the leverage in this situation. The leverage that Kaminga has is that he could technically wreck the Warriors title window by being a distraction, refusing to play ball. Uh, refusing to really sign anything until that qualifying offer date, which I believe is October 1st. And at that point, I mean, maybe someone picks up Melton, maybe someone goes after Horford, or he just says, “You know what? Forget this. It’s a mess. I’m retired.” Um, not necessarily leverage that helps Jonathan Kaminga’s career, but his entire leverage is basically screwing the Golden State Warriors because even if he does sign the qualifying offer, they they lose him next year for nothing. The Warriors do want some value in return. So, the divorce seems likely, but the issue is the Warriors have now thrown out a contract to Jonathan Kaminga. Jonathan Kaminga said, “I am good to go.” and he doesn’t mind per the sources waiting as long as this thing needs to to get settled. Meanwhile, we as content creators like can we please expedite this process just a little bit? But um Kaminga basically says, “I don’t think that contract’s fair.” The Warriors on the other side say, “We offer the highest starting salary that you’re going to get. There’s not a lot of teams with cap space that can offer you anything else.” Um but his agent’s going to continue to look for signing trades. The Suns and the Kings are the two teams that have showed some interest. Unfortunately, they have nothing to offer the Warriors or at least that they would offer the Warriors that Golden State wants. And the the issue with this entire thing is that Al Horford is reportedly on standby because of this cuz if they commit their $5 million mid-level exception to Horford, then the transaction hardcaps them at the second apron and potentially makes it possible for a team to swoop in and throw an offer sheet for Kaminga that the Warriors can’t match, losing him for nothing. So the Warriors don’t necessarily want Jonathan Kaminga. They just want something for him. Jonathan Kaminga just wants to play basketball. He wants some money. It’s a disaster all around, man. As a nonbiased party here, what do you make of this entire situation? I mean, the writing was on the wall. This should have just been done beforehand. Um, now they’re sitting in a spot where they’re at a stalemate, like you said. I mean, what they got nine guys on the roster, I believe, right now. They got to sign, you know, four or five guys and they’re sitting here going, you know, with their, you know, finger up their butts like what do we do? Mike Dunley, it’s like, dude, we could have seen this coming. There was clearly a clash with Steve Cerr and Kaminga. He wants to be a go-to guy in the playoffs if that were to happen with whatever team he lands on. And now they’re sitting there and like all these other teams already moving all the puzzle pieces around. It’s like where do you go? Where’s the fit? I saw Keon Ellis get thrown out there from the Kings, but it’s like you could have like his value was much higher at one point before other teams made their moves. So it’s uh yeah, it’s not a great spot to be in. It’s really their only piece that they can move right now is Jonathan Kaminga. Yeah. And the doomsday scenario is basically the one where a team comes in with an offer sheet that the Warriors can’t match and they then have to move around pieces like a buddy healed $9 million contract goes somewhere else to bring in a $5 million contract or something to make financials work in that sense. But the issue is is that um basically let’s say Kaminga signs a $25 million deal elsewhere in a sign and trade. His incoming salary for the new team counts at the full value. The outgoing salary only counts at 50%. So that means with 12.5 million of outgoing value there, the most that the Warriors can take back salary match. That’s where it gets a little bit iffy with all these aprons and everything that’s involved. It is confusing stuff. There’s no doubt about it. And the Warriors have to go with some vet minimum contracts and and maybe it’s Will Richard on the rookie minimum that could be 1.3 million. But they do not have a lot of money to throw around right now. In fact, they have nine players on contract for 171 million. They are required to roster at least 14 players, so they have to sign five more by the start of the season. Horford is presumed to be $5.7 million mid-level exception. Anthony Melton presumed to be a $2.3 million minimum. That’s 11 players. They would still need three more. And um the Warriors would sit at 17 million below the first apron, 28.9 million below the second apron. Do you understand any of this when I’m throwing all these words at you, aprons and everything? Like I I wonder if any of our viewers this naturally just like clicks to them and they’re like, “Oh, the aprons. I get it.” Or if this is just damn confusing to everyone. No, it dude. confusing to guys that cover the league consistently, you know, like Zack Low is like, I’m getting confused by the aprons. Really, the second apron to make it simple, it’s just a just look at it like a hard cap. No team is going to enter the season over the second apron. I mean, just make that just call it the hard salary cap. I know they hate putting the word salary cap on anything, but no team is going to go over that second apron. I think like the Cavaliers and Celtics might technically be as it stands today. They’ll make some moves. The the one silver lining if you’re a Warriors person, I’ve heard so many situations where they’re like, “There’s just no way out.” You’re like, “Hey, with all these contracts, the John Wall contract comes to mind. They can’t figure a way out.” These guys are smart. They figure out how to finagle the salary cap or the second apron, first apron, whatever you want to call it. And they end up making moves by being, you know, they they do something where they, you know, stretch a contract, things like that that’s above our pay grade, Chuck, and they figure something out to make it work and move these pieces. So that’s really what you can hold on to is that somebody smarter than us is putting together something that’s going to make sense for the Golden State Warriors because they’re in a they’re in a tough spot right now. No doubt about it. Sticky situation you could call it. Uh the past business has been botched. Hopefully the future business is better. But let’s talk about the botch business involving Jonathan Kaminga, where this entire thing went wrong, and and how the Warriors can potentially get out of this stalemate, this stand still, and be happy with the end result, or at least not pissed off. That’s coming up on Locked on Warriors. Today’s episode’s brought to you by America’s number one sports book. That is FanDuel. You know all about FanDuel, and right now, summer sports are in full swing. Whether you’re into baseball under the lights, golf on the green, or high stakes soccer action, FanDuel is the best way to make every game more exciting. You’re already following the action. 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Where did this entire thing go wrong? because the Warriors clearly clearly did not do their homework on this entire situation and how it could potentially go down with the aprons coming into play and new CBA and teams not having all the options available like did they think that Jonathan Kaminga was just going to accept the what the 20 million the 25 million whatever this offer was now I think it’s probably more like 18 and a half it’s going to be fascinating to see what they offered him but based on the fact that they DMPed him I don’t think they were offering from him 2530 million like we’ve heard prior. Um what what did they think was going to happen here truly? Especially when your coach is kind of throwing him under the bus. I I really don’t know. I you would have thought at least they would have gave him a little bit more run and see what you really have in Jonathan Kaminga because you haven’t gotten the full experience. Like I I saw some stats, you know, when Steph Curry’s not playing the guy’s lights out. you know, 20 plus points a game, shooting around 50% from the field. And and we saw that in the in the playoffs. Like, this guy can score. I mean, he’s a he’s a legit scorer. He’s a he’s a pretty solid player. He’s still obviously young. He has those mistakes and those, you know, hey, what the hell are you doing moments? No question. But it’s it’s interesting. And he’s going to want I’ I’ve seen numbers. What? He wants 30 million a year. It’s like, who’s going to give you that, right? his agent his agent rebuted that and and actually rebuked it and said #fake news that that was never actually offered and that the the Slater story has been slopped all over the place. So, I’ll stay away from that one. I have no idea. All we do know is that he turned down recent offers that the Warriors think is fair market value. I would imagine that they they probably lowballed it pretty good based off what what I would imagine. Yeah, you would have to think that. And it’s like I don’t really blame Kaminga. I don’t know if I necessarily I mean Steve Kerr kind of gets stuck in his ways. He he likes certain players and he clearly did not trust Kaminga down the stretch by any means. He was getting DNPs which I think is a little crazy honestly. But it it just comes down to like what was the plan going into last season? Why not make that trade then if you really decided, hey, this isn’t a guy that we can even trust down the stretch. His value is at an all-time high. you know, some teams that are not necessarily in championship contention, a younger core might make more sense for a Jonathan Kaminga. And now I’m sitting here going like, hell, can they figure out a way to just keep Jonathan Kaminga because they could use I mean, hell, they’re talking about signing Al Horford and Seth Curry, which I’m sure we’ll get into. It’s like, what what do you want the average age on the team to be 40 years old? You might need a young spark to come in there and score the ball, you know, when you have an 82 game regular season. So, I it’s pretty interesting. I would love to hear like Dunley’s thoughts on why they’re in the position they are in now, but who knows, man. I want to know truly if they have received interest, serious interest from Jonathan Kaminga in the past. None of these reports, whatever. I mean, we heard last year that Danny A and the Lowry marketing deal was like just as interested in Brandon Pajki as he was Jonathan Kaminga. So, like we we truly don’t know what his values been like around the league for the past few seasons because the Warriors weren’t really offering him up in trade talks. I mean, he’s he’s Joe Lacob’s prince. He’s his baby. He’s his baby goose. Like the the golden goose. That is what Kaminga was supposed to be. And Steve Kirk clearly has not seen eye to eye in that regard. And and sure, they gave him the opportunity to run this year and an injury happened at the worst time when he was playing great basketball right before he got hurt. He had 34 in back-to-back games. One of them was against the Suns in a win. Went 34 back to back and then, you know, blew out the tire and and and hurt the ankle there. Um the problem is the Warriors weren’t winning those games. Like they they were bad. They had lost like I think 11 of 14 with with Kaminga and Curry kind of leading the charge as the one-two punch along with Wiggins of course. And they they bring in Jimmy Butler. They were going star hunting last off season. So clearly he didn’t have a ton of faith in Jonathan Kaminga. Then I’m wondering if this entire situation just boils down to he’s never had as big a market and the Warriors just kind of kick the can down the road and they said we’re going to figure this out. He’s got talent. He’s going to get better. We’re going to fit him into the system and it’s just never happened to the point now where he’s actually considering taking a qualifying offer for 7.9 million, walking away at the end of next season. A, it would be disastrous because you lose him for nothing. And B, you can’t really trade him at the deadline at that point because he’s only making 7.9 million. Who who you gonna return? You going to return Seth Curry in a trade when when he signs with the Hornets or whatever? I I mean, you got to see what you can get in a signing trade. I I don’t I do not know what that market looks like right now. Um, and then you might just be doing something where you you do you just get the qualifying offer and he just plays on this team and you you get rid of him for nothing and and hopefully maybe you try to go all in but hell dude look down plays on the team. You like that? I mean but look he was pissed off all year anyway. I mean just look at the Western Conference though. It’s like I I don’t know if it’s going to be the Golden State Warriors year regardless. I mean it is an absolute gauntlet in the Western Conference. So I don’t know if it really matters. you want to get some value back. But I I would love to know what those talks really look like on what players are actually being thrown around as a possible signing trade. Well, here’s what we do know from the Sacramento Kings side of things. It was Daario Sarich who played for the Warriors a couple years ago and got his cups of coffee did not last. It was Devin Carter who shot like 28% from the floor a season ago and and has a a shoulder injury that has been affecting him since his college days at South Carolina and it was two second round draft picks. The Warriors want young talent and they want first round draft picks. I mean, you could call Devin Carter young talent, but aside from that, the Kings gave the Warriors nothing they wanted in that situation. They said no. The Phoenix Suns have interest. The issue is there with the financial aspect that goes into it. the only players that they can really offer like Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neal, Nick Richards. They don’t have any draft picks to throw in. So, that offer becomes less enticing, too. It is truly a game of hard ball and a staring contest that could go all the way until qualifying offer time, which is right around camp. And at that point, like the Warriors have to do something. They have to sign players. They they can’t have handshake agreements and verbal deals with DA Anthony Melton and Al Horford all summer. That’s that’s bad business. That’s it. It it doesn’t work that way in the NBA, I wouldn’t think. I mean, it’s a it’s a rare situation that we’re in right now. We’re prisoners. It really is. We’re prisoners. It really is. From a guy that got DNP. Wait, you said the it’s October is when that they officially have to sign that. Is that when it is? because I believe it is October 1st. I’ll give you that exact date, but assume it’s October 1st that he has to sign that uh $7.9 million qualifying offer. Oh god. All right. Well, we’ll see what happens, man. But I mean, they’re they’re probably what they’re going to end up doing is getting 10 cents on the dollar and trying to find any type of young talent they can bring in that isn’t even probably going to be as good as Jonathan Kaminga, at least at this point in their career. That might be the move they have to make because you’re right, Kaminga is going to be a distraction all year if he is on the team and they got to make some moves soon. I mean, they can’t wait all the way until October to to sign players. I mean, holy hell, they got nine guys on the roster. What is this, a JV team? We had more guys. Yeah. I mean, Kobe White’s a name from Chicago that financially could potentially work out now that the Bulls have said that maybe they wouldn’t extend him. Cory Kispert from Washington. We know that the Wizards had some interest in him. Uh the the first round draft compensation is going to be tough considering the entire league knows the Warriors hand. I mean, this is essentially the the the Warriors are playing like this. They have their cards facing that way and the entire league’s looking at them like, “Dude, you got a you got a pair of twos and you’re putting all your chips in the middle, you dumb asses.” Like, well, what’s going on now? This isn’t the way it works. So, um the the question that I have is if Kaminga does take that $7.9 million qualifying offer, let’s say, um examples of that going ary were Nerland’s Noel in 2017 rejected a 4-year $70 million offer with the Mavericks as a restricted free agent to sign a $4.1 million qualifying offer. He played in 30 games that season after tearing a ligament in his thumb. His next contract was for the minimum and over the rest of his career he’d make 27 million. So he turned down 70 million over four years and the rest of his career he made um not even half of that, you know, close to a third of that. That would be the disaster for Kaminga. He’s young enough to where it could potentially work out. He’s just a free agent next season. The issue that I would have is I think it’s bad business to go into a season accepting that qualifying offer, kind of pissing off the Warriors because, you know, just everything that’s that’s gone on throughout this off season. And Steve Kerr, like I know that he says he’s going to make Kaminga focal point next season. And quite frankly, he has to if they’re going to win because he’s got some talent, but you truly never know. I mean, maybe Geese Santos pops and he’s like, I like Santos a lot. this guy really fits our connective tissue and then if you’re Jonathan Kaminga, no one’s offering you a big-time contract and and you’re kind of screwed to a certain degree. So, it’s it really depends what the Warriors have offered. If they offered him three years, $20 million and Kaminga’s turning that down, I think it’s bad business. Truly, I think at this point 20 $23 million, I think that’s extremely fair for Jonathan Kaminga. I do too. Um 100%. And what might end up happening with a lot of these kind of young guys, almost like a Cam Thomas type player, is they sign these short-term deals when certain teams have extra cap space to to throw out there. So, they’ll do like, you know, a two-year 44 million, something like that. But, yeah, that that is well within his range. I know the salary cap keeps going up and up, and you see some of these players where you’re like, hold on, what? The guy that averages six points a game just signed a $22 million a year contract. And it’s like, all right, well, I guess that won’t look too bad in five years. But yeah, it it’s he he’s overplaying his hand a little bit. We’ll see how it plays out. But it seems like he’s ready just to bluff all the way until the the season. I don’t know if he’s bluffing. He might just sign that damn deal and play the season and then leave in free agency next year. And then you’re kind of sitting there like, “What the hell are we doing?” He’s looking directly at the Locked on Warriors podcast waving to us saying like, “Enjoy content this off season, you fools.” I mean, truly. I mean, we could get into Seth Curry, the fact that there’s mutual interest on both sides with with Seth and um Steph potentially teaming up together next season, but that’s uh that’s an episode for a different day. We’ve talked about that a bit. So, I want to get into fun things. Western Conference sleepers, teams that could be on the rise, random squads from the East or West that could be good. We’re breaking all things down with Hudson Clouty. He’s an NBA guy through and through, and he’s our guest on today’s Lockdown Warriors. That’s coming up. the Western Conference. All the talk has been about the Houston Rockets, how much better they’ve gotten. Adding Kevin Durant, adding what feels like seven centers at this point. Like the Warriors could use some size, and Houston said, “We’re just going to hoard every single center. We’re going to bring in Clint Capella for no reason. They’ve made moves left and right. The Lakers are making moves. Teams are are making moves. Uh, the the Grizzlies have made moves, trading with the Orlando Magic, getting rid of Desmond Bane, who I love. Um, the Toronto Raptors to me are kind of this random sneaky team that I think could actually be decent. If they’re not decent, they’re kind of screwed because they’re tied into a lot of players for a lot of years, for a lot of money. What What’s kind of the most noteworthy storyline that has hit your brain this off season that you want to talk about on our kind of random fun things in the West or East segment? Well, I’ll just jump right into it. The uh the Raptors who you just mentioned, I think it’s the worst most expensive team that I’ve ever seen. I mean, they’re over the first apron, Chuck. Wait, we’re talking about worse than the Nets with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and maybe even Rondo. They may have just taken the entire Celtics team back in the day. Worse than that. Well, at least I I I saw the vision of that. Like they they just got those guys like three years too late. I mean, you know, in hindsight, it’s like what the hell? that that was never going to work. These guys are in their 30s. But with the the Raptors, it’s like it almost feels like a rebuild, but it’s not. I mean, they are literally over the first apron. They’re one of the most expensive rosters in all of the NBA. And you’re looking at Listen, I like Emanuel Quickley, solid player. He’s getting 30 million a year. RJ Barrett 30 million. Scotty Barnes 42 million. Brandon Ingram 40 million. I mean, that’s a lot of guys that like to shoot the rock, too. I I don’t know where they’re what what they think this team could be. I mean, I’m looking at this. I’m thinking they’re gonna finish 12 to 14th in the West. Trade bait or in the East, but yeah, trade bait or excuse me. Geez. Yeah, trade bait. Sure. But I mean, it it’s somewhat ridiculous when you’re looking at this team. They’re all solid players by themselves, but uh I I if I’m the GM, I’m like, “What the hell are you doing?” Looks like my little cousin did this on 2K and was like, “Let’s just get all the stars. Let me get Brandon Ingram, a guy that they couldn’t sell for, you know, anything. They couldn’t get anything in return for Brandon Ingram. They’re paying him 40 million a year. They’re locked into that for a number of years. I that that’s one of my like what the hell are you doing teams in in all of the NBA? How about the New Orleans Pelicans who reunite two Warriors fan favorites, JP Pete, Jordan P, and Cavon Looney. They got Zion Williamson down there. Um, is CJ McCollum McCollum still there, right? At this point, I I don’t even know. No, I actually saw CJ McCullum in Rosemary Beach and then he was traded uh like a week later. Um trying to remember who exactly. So, he’s gone, but they did they got a nice contract with Herb Jones who I think everybody collectively loves. Yep. It really comes down to like is Zion gonna play all year? You can’t count on that at all. Um I again it’s like a team that I like the players and the the roster construction is not too bad. You do have Jordan P. Maybe he has a resurgence. Who knows? The Columns with the Wizards, so obviously the the trade there. All right, there you go. Um, yeah, I’m still looking at the Pelicans is bottom of the barrel as far as the Western Conference. Is there any team in the West that most people think’s bottom of the barrel that you say not so fast, my friend, they could be a little bit scrappy this upcoming season? Hear me out. Portland Trailblazers. Whoa. Right. So, you know, we saw that they got Dame Lillard. We’ll see whenever he comes back. He’s old, obviously. But then you get Drew Holiday. They still have Jeremy Grant. People forget about Jeremy Grant. I think he’s a solid player. Maybe a little too expensive. Uh Shaden Sharp Yang, our guy Hansen Yang. I mean, young Hansen. I I liked what I saw. I liked what I saw. I saw I saw some people in Central Park. I was in New York with Kylin and we got a picture by a fountain and I said, “Let me take a picture of you guys, too.” guy was in a Blazers hat and I hit him with a Hansen Yang, a young Hansen. I don’t even know which way his his name goes, but I I hit him with a a Hansen and I said, “That guy’s got great feel for the game, great basketball IQ, and this guy’s like NBA guy.” Hey, I’m like Warriors. He’s like, “Oh, we ended up seeing that guy three times in Central Park with just random spots. We kept running into him like Hansen Yang.” Uh, anyways, enough about that. You You truly believe that the Blazers are going to be good now? No, I mean, I think they’re going to be sneaky. I I don’t think they’re making the play. I mean, you I could possibly see maybe sneaking in as a playing team, but I think they’re sneaky, man. Shaden Sharp, too. Solid guy. And I love Drew Holiday. I know Scoot. Well, this is a make or break, right, for Scoot, for Scoot Henderson. Um, you know, our guy Bill Simmons famously claimed that he was by far the best prospect in the draft. Hasn’t really looked that great to be honest. I mean, shooting percentage is terrible. three-point shot doesn’t look great, but he started to turn it on a little bit. And good news for him is he’s going to get a ton of run with this team. So, I I I you could see the potential with him. Um, but I think they’ll be sneaking. They’re going to play hard, too. Like, they got rid of DeAndre Aiden, who was a guy that, you know, if it was too icy on the roads, he was DNPed. He wouldn’t even go to the arena. He’s out the door. So, I think you’re going to have some energy, and that’s usually where you can get yourself caught off guard by a team like the Trailblazers because they’re bringing it every night. I want you to go with a greater than or less than symbol and you just give it to me verbally when I name a team and the other team. So for example, the Golden State Warriors are greater than or the Golden State Warriors are blank. The Utah Jazz less than greater than. I’ll start it off and I I would hope you’d say greater than. The Golden State Warriors are blank. The Dallas Mavericks. uh that I think it’s going to be neck and neck. I’m going to say greater right now. Well, we we’ll see. It’s impossible because they have nine guys. They got Quinton Post as their starting center right now. I assume that’s going to change. So, I think just projecting I think Warriors are going to sneak ahead of the Mavericks. Okay. And we’re doing this experiment assuming that uh Jonathan Kaminga doesn’t hold him hostage all offseason. Eventually, the Warriors have Al Horford and Dean Anthony Melton and maybe even Seth Curry. Who knows? But, uh, those guys and then maybe Will Richard. Uh, whe whether Kaminga is on the team or not, who knows? But, um, factor that in. The Golden State Warriors are blank. The Los Angeles Clippers, who are also very old, less than. I like the Clippers. You like the Clippers more than the Warriors now. Adding in Brook Lopez, adding in Bradley Beal, adding in uh what else did they do this off season? They they got a few other guys. Yeah, they they got rid of Norman Pal, uh, which makes more sense with the Bradley Beal acquisition. Um, they got John Collins, a little more size, rebounding, and CP3, he’s still playing. People forget CP3 is still out there. So, I they are literally damn near a nursing home right now. But collectively, that roster I certainly like more than Golden State right now. The Golden State Warriors are blank, the Houston Rockets. Come on, Chuck. Don’t Don’t let me Don’t let the fan base come after me. Less than it’s not close right now. The Rockets can’t beat the Warriors when it comes crunch time. We’ve known this. Cubs got their number. I mean what it was. They would have got Kevin Durant. Yeah, it was 15 in a row before last season. Durant’s old. You know, people saying Jimmy Butler doesn’t have it in anymore. I mean, Durant’s getting up there in age. No, I do agree. Uh, perfect fit. The the thing is they lose Dylan Brooks who last year was kind of like and a co-host on the show, Kolski said he was a bum. Klay Thompson said he was a bum. Koulsky said he’s he’s not a winning play or whatever, but he kind of was like a heartbeat for them in a sense that like he fit exactly what Adoka wants and was just their menace. And granted, they have a few menaces and Kevin Durant is significantly better than Dylan Brooks. However, you lose Dylan Brooks, you lose Jaylen Green, who could score with the best of him on a given night and then he could, you know, miss every single shot. That’s kind of how Jaylen Green was. He was feast or famine. But Kevin Durant, I mean, we’re getting to that territory where 37, 38 year olds in the past, typically this is the the waning moments of their career, and typically this is where you see a sizable drop off. Um, apparently LeBron James and Steph Curry and and James Harden and and now Durant as well have have proved that modern science is a gamecher and that players may just be doing this thing until 45 moving forward. But historically before about 15 years ago, like no one was good at this age and that’s always the worry, right? Is that production just goes right? But I feel like we’re saying that about every damn player now. All these stars. I mean, we’re talking about a guy in the last two seasons, what he 23 24, he averaged 27 over 50% from the field, over 40 from three. 27 and last season over 40% from three again and over 50% from the field. I mean, the guy’s going to be able to score probably for the next five years. Now, his defense is taking a a bit of a step back, no question. But the team is so young around him, and they didn’t have to get rid of our guy Tari E, Jabari Smith. They kept that like young core. or then he’d have to get rid of Reed Shepard. We’ll see if he gets into the mix at all. So, I thought they did a great job and I I don’t think Jaylen Green, he’s almost in that Kaminga territory. I don’t know if he was like fitting with that mold and to get a a go-to score that you know could shoot it at that clip and is Kevin Durant, mind you. Not a bad spot to be if you’re the Houston Rockets. Reed Shepard, what a what a long way he’s come, man. I remember when I was covering sports in Lexington out there. He was playing at this high school. I believe he was playing at uh North Laurel was the high school that he went to and it was like an hour away from Lexington out in the the country. His dad was a UK legend, Jeff Shepard. And when I went out there to do an interview with him, he was a freshman in high school. His only offer was Stson. Like no one had had given this guy a look. I think maybe Chris Mack at the time at Louisville had had given him some looks but not an offer. And he went from Stson to the Houston Rockets. That was in that was during co that’s how long ago it was. It was like 2020 right before I moved to the Bay Area and 5 years later he’s he’s playing for the Houston Rockets. So that’s what happens when you’re a a white dude who’s 6’2. Uh you’re not going to get as many looks as you might think. You have to show it on the big stage and then all of a sudden I mean hell what was he the third overall pick? Something like that. He was high. He was a lottery pick that’s for sure. Um last one we’ll go with rapid fire. The Golden State Warriors are blank, the Denver Nuggets, less than. I think the Nuggets are the team to beat in the West. I truly do. Sorry about it, OKC fans. The Golden State Warriors are blank, the Memphis Grizzlies, greater than. Greater than. And lastly, the Golden State Warriors are blank the Los Angeles Lakers. Less than. So, you think the Warriors are playing team based on that that assignment? I I think they’re going to be I I slotted them. What I did was I did the whole damn Western Conference before we hopped on cuz I knew you’re gonna ask me these questions. I threw the Warriors in at the eighth spot. Um, and you know, a sneaky team that I threw in there that maybe isn’t on everyone’s radar. Ah, they kind of are. They got Webby is the San Antonio Spurs at the seven seed. Um, it’s kind of make or break. Like everyone talks about Webby being, you know, this generational talent. It’s like, well, they haven’t won many games. You know, this isn’t his first year. It’s make or break for him to actually his team needs to make the playoffs where it’s like all right well 23 22 years old it’s it’s make or break for Wimby already per Hudson you got to make a leap he’s got to make a leap and actually make a team to the playoffs because I’m getting sick of people claiming hey this is the greatest player to ever live I know he is you know 79 and looks legitimately like he just got off a spaceship and he’s one of the greatest talents we’ve ever seen but at some point man he’s got a good roster around he’s got Darren Fox he’s got a you know castle he’s got a bunch of guys they got to be able to the playoffs. Yeah, that that’s an interesting team that I look to as a trade partner with the Warriors down the road, too, because they have a ton of guards. They have a plethora of guys Castle, um De’aran Fox, the list goes on and on to where potentially the Jonathan Kinga name could be interesting for them, but not if it’s a qualifying offer, then uh it does nothing. Hudson Clouty, you can check him out on social media. Hudson Clkey, just search it on the internet, although I don’t think he goes by his real name on the uh the socials. So you’re you’re probably not going to find them. You can find them on this program though, Locked On Warriors. We are free and available wherever you get your audio podcast. Check us out on YouTube. Thanks for tuning in. and uh Buer

The Golden State Warriors are back to the drawing board after Jonathan Kuminga turned down their latest offer, which the Warriors believed to be fair. Kuminga’s camp will continue to look for sign and trade options and have no rush. Meanwhile, the Warriors still remain stagnant this offseason until this situation is resolved. Chuck Walter and Hudson Klauke break down the Dubs and the Western Conference on today’s show.

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